I love credit cards so much!

[SouthFayetteFan]

I love that you phrased it like this.

Hey I figure if The Points Guy can have his own valuation...so can I

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Just went to Best Buy. So glad that’s over. I unfortunately got the nice but clueless elderly man as my cashier. He didn’t understand what the “swashbuckler” (Swagbucks) code was I wanted him to scan. Then for some reason the $50 Disney GC rang up as a variable red lobster gift card, which he insisted must be because of my “swashbuckler” code. I went out to the parking lot and immediately put the code into the Disney gift card website and it worked though. I also got an email from Amex immediately thanking me for using my offer.

 

[Judique]

@Judique i meant to chime in on your NE trip. I’ve lived in the Boston area my whole life. As far as the city goes you can’t go wrong. It’s small and everything is relatively close or accessible via uber, public transport etc. Hotel inventory can be low and Sept is extremely busy with all the colleges having family weekends and fall events. I like the Long Wharf Harbor area there are some great Marriotts there. If you like shopping consider Copley Sq.- there is a Westin and Sheraton. I like the Seaport area too and that’s close to the airport.

As far as the Cape it’s beautiful in September. Much quieter but really popular for weddings. You won’t see much for foliage it’s still early. Also not many chain hotel options. If you want Oceanside and some foliage I’d recommend heading up to Maine or NH. The oqunquit/ Wells/ kennenunk area is about 90 min North and beautiful. Good luck!!

Thanks! I'm pretty familiar with all areas you've mentioned but haven't been up that way in a few years. I have a friend in Hyannis that I still keep in touch with so I'll definitely be on the Cape. I love the huge sand dunes out in Provincetown and I like to go to the national seashore there. Also, son went to school in Boston - Wentworth Institute back in 2000, so stayed in all three Copley Place hotels - mostly on points when we visited. I love the Museum of Fine Arts and want to get back there. Not going into Maine this trip, but I do love Maine and especially Wells/Ogunquit area. I'll probably go into Plymouth so I can get a lobster roll and a clam chowder at Wood's Seafood. Used to live in Newport, RI and love just driving around the whole area.

 

[afan]

@afan, I did the free trial and cancelled but it said I can still use it to get into my stadium. Maybe it would for yours?

That seems odd. I've seen them out trying to sign people up before games. I don't go enough to even bother with a free trial, plus I normally go to the game with a friend so it wouldn't work. However if I'd known there was a free trial I'd have signed up just to skip the line when I flew Icelandair since they don't participate in precheck. They didn't mention the free trial. It just seems like a rip off since it's a yearly fee.

 

[amalone1013]

How don't you have Precheck? Don't you have some card out there that offered it for free?? What kinda churner are you

I am a terrible churner. I haven't updated my passport yet!

I think I'm going to put DHs global entry app in next week, and at least see if we can get his going and then maybe when we get there on teh 13th for our next trip pop in and see if they can do his interview quick.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I have both. A Marriott premier plus (me and DH) and SPG biz (both of us) and now Lux (just me, upgraded)

Was your Marriott bonus in the past 24 months and did you upgrade before the 26th?
I had the Marriott bonus 12 months ago and am concerned about upgrading after the 26th when the no-SPG-bonus-for-you-if-you-got-Marriott-bonus language went into affect. I know it’s not on the upgrade info but...

 

[amalone1013]

That seems odd. I've seen them out trying to sign people up before games. I don't go enough to even bother with a free trial, plus I normally go to the game with a friend so it wouldn't work. However if I'd known there was a free trial I'd have signed up just to skip the line when I flew Icelandair since they don't participate in precheck. They didn't mention the free trial. It just seems like a rip off since it's a yearly fee.

I think they only run the free trial randomly. Maybe keep an eye out? They told me in my cancellation email, I haven't actually tried it myself. I think it's only good for Rockies games here.


Hi Alyssa,

We received your request to cancel your membership. While we’re always happy to help, we are sad to see you go. You should see an email confirming your account has been canceled in 1-2 business days. Even after your membership has ended, you can continue using CLEAR at our Sports and Arena locations for free. You can see our growing list of locations at https://www.clearme.com/where-we-are. Consider it our thank you for trying CLEAR.

We also initiated a refund of $220.51. You should see the credit applied to your card on file in about 3-5 business days.

We’d love to hear what we could've improved to maintain your membership. Feel free to reply to this email or give us a call at 855-CLEARME with your feedback.

Best,

Moseline M.
CLEAR-Member Services

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I am a terrible churner.

This is DECIDEDLY an untrue statement!

 

[Judique]

Amex doesn’t match offers, but hands out “courtesy points” if you express your extreme displeasure.

Right. That's what I was told but they said they were 'opening a case'. I'm expecting nothing. Well, I do want to get the elite nights straight so I can have platinum for next year as I'm going to travel a bit more and earlier in the year, so I'd like some of the little perks if I can get them.

 

[amalone1013]

So they added one of our favorite restaurants to the dining network... Am going to meet DH and ILs after I get off for dinner. He just texted me, mom wants to treat.

But the SW points!

*attempt to redeem self for being a terrible churner, whether it's true or not...*


Also, remember when I forgot to support someone with DHs CIP? Yeah...

 

[Mopedmom1]

I am super laid back and have finally hit the end of my rope with this place I'm counting down the days until my 401k match is vested - 16 days!

Don't forget with a new job your PTO will likely be more in line with Zacks.

 

[afan]

Don't forget with a new job your PTO will likely be more in line with Zacks.

Small price to pay when you are working in a bad situation. I can totally relate to @amalone1013 but it's also why I was bad and never bothered reducing my already bad pay by contributing to my 401, I knew I'd never make the 3 years for it to be vested Didn't quite make a year and a half.

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

Thanks! I'm pretty familiar with all areas you've mentioned but haven't been up that way in a few years. I have a friend in Hyannis that I still keep in touch with so I'll definitely be on the Cape. I love the huge sand dunes out in Provincetown and I like to go to the national seashore there. Also, son went to school in Boston - Wentworth Institute back in 2000, so stayed in all three Copley Place hotels - mostly on points when we visited. I love the Museum of Fine Arts and want to get back there. Not going into Maine this trip, but I do love Maine and especially Wells/Ogunquit area. I'll probably go into Plymouth so I can get a lobster roll and a clam chowder at Wood's Seafood. Used to live in Newport, RI and love just driving around the whole area.

Awesome!! I went to Northeastern University right up the road!! Love that part of the Cape. September in my fave month here hands down!!!

 

[Albort]

Multiple accounts... like if you have different logins? Or do you think the multi tab trick is part of it? I added Staples to DHs biz card and his employee card for my biz... bother are on same account and did multi tab trick.

my guess is same SSN # accounts. im not sure.
this was posted in my other group.

 

[Calfan]

I would go straight to twitter with Delta, its about the only way they will respond.

About a week and half ago I took DD 13 to NYC for her birthday trip. We were scheduled to be there Saturday-Monday as she was starting school on Wednesday. Just as we were checking out of our hotel on Monday I get a text that our flight later that night had been cancelled. Due to weather they say, umm yeah right 12 hours in advance and I know that the plane never left its origination city that morning. They had automatically rebooked us with a connection for the next day. We did have a non-stop flight originally. So luckily I had my DH get on the case and he managed to rebook us, have that flight get cancelled as well and get us rebooked the next day. We get to LGA (which is nuts on a normal day) but add in a few days of delays and cancellations and it was crazy. We push back early and the pilot tells us we are 30-37 in line for takeoff. Ok, I think we still have time to get off before the evening thunderstorms roll in. Nope, we got to #7 before they shut down LGA. We sat there on the runway trying to not loose our spot in line and eventually time out due to the three hour rule. Have to go back to the gate, get off, only to get back on about 15 minutes later. Seven hours after originally boarding the flight we land in ATL. We did make it home about 7 hours before DD had to be at school for her first day. Because of twitter and being insistent on there, we both got $100 voucher for another flight. While not much, it was more than they wanted to do. I will say they have and have always had the worst CSR on their phone lines. Being somewhat a Delta hostage most of my life, I've dealt with them for a long time and will avoid contacting them as much as I can. I really don't think most of them care to get you where you need to be, whereas when we had a similar situation with SW, while limited by their schedule, I did at least feel they cared that I got to my destination in the hottest possible time. I did send Delta a compliment for the crew we had on our flight, they were wonderful through it all.

I will also add, it helps to have someone else helping you, such as my DH in this case, when this happens. I doubt I would have had much luck booking and rebooking all these flights (we had a total of 3 cancelled and then had to rebook our connection several times during the delay) just using just the Delta app and an I-phone. It was also reassuring that the flight had been booked with points and we had plenty of hotel points to book another night in the city knowing that we weren't out of pocket anything.

Sounds like a nightmare! The downside of being in Boise is that Delta clearly doesn’t have a big enough operation here to be reliable. I was attracted to the nonstop flight, and it was a good fare, but there was zero backup plan once our aircraft had an issue. We also had issues with flight delays on a return flight from Seattle over Spring Break, so I am pretty much firing Delta for our future travel. I have one Delta flight left that I booked with miles, which is for the Walt Disney World Marathon weekend in January. Crossing fingers that turns out to be an ok experience. But after that flight, I’m not booking any more Delta flights, and I’m going to cancel my Delta Biz Amex. But the upside of being in Boise is that it was simply a matter of walking two gates down to find a Southwest agent who was able to sell us the seats for the flights through San Jose to Burbank. That’s actually the second time I’ve bought a ticket at the gate with Southwest to deal with a flight delay on amnother carrier. As the Southwest agent joked with me, that should be telling me something. Being in Boise also made it relatively easy to get our bags pulled off the Delta flight and re-checked on Southwest with time ticking. And I agree that our experience with the Delta agents in Boise was fantastic. But I also agree that their corporate customer service is a complete zero. Definitely time to take to Twitter, lol. The worst part of that whole delay with Delta is that it happened on my daughter’s 16th birthday, Instead of spending the day in Southern California at the beach with a nice celebratory dinner at Nobu on the beach in Malibu, she got a day of sitting in airports with dinner at Univeresal City Walk. But at least we made it in time for a Plan B birthday celebration, and the critical thing is that we made it in time for our VIP Experience tour at Universal the following morning, which was a nice “day after” birthday celebration for her. We joked that the next day was her “observed” birthday since her actual birthday was such a bust.

 

[chattadisser]

@amalone1013 - that was my thought as well, CLEAR is good at places like Denver, not so much at MCO. We don't have any plans to be at MCO but we're frequently at Denver and other airports out west with similar situations. Interesting that it still says you can use it at stadiums. I could see keeping it if you had season tickets at one of the stadiums that uses it.

@afan - I'm leaning towards your thinking, not sure we would use it enough to warrant the cost. Need to stop procrastinating and just get pre-check.

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

Was your Marriott bonus in the past 24 months and did you upgrade before the 26th?
I had the Marriott bonus 12 months ago and am concerned about upgrading after the 26th when the no-SPG-bonus-for-you-if-you-got-Marriott-bonus language went into affect. I know it’s not on the upgrade info but...

No I just got it in June. Nothing is in the language for the upgrade offer and I upgraded today so I’m rolling the dice....

 

[amalone1013]

Don't forget with a new job your PTO will likely be more in line with Zacks.

Yeah Worst part about leaving, I get lots here. Though I did just hear from someone who I was going to reach out to next week... and their place is similar PTO, better 401k match, and cheaper healthcare premiums... think the base pay may be lower though.

Need to stop procrastinating and just get pre-check.

Me too, friend!

 

[chattadisser]

Sounds like a nightmare! The downside of being in Boise is that Delta clearly doesn’t have a big enough operation here to be reliable. I was attracted to the nonstop flight, and it was a good fare, but there was zero backup plan once our aircraft had an issue. We also had issues with flight delays on a return flight from Seattle over Spring Break, so I am pretty much firing Delta for our future travel. I have one Delta flight left that I booked with miles, which is for the Walt Disney World Marathon weekend in January. Crossing fingers that turns out to be an ok experience. But after that flight, I’m not booking any more Delta flights, and I’m going to cancel my Delta Biz Amex. But the upside of being in Boise is that it was simply a matter of walking two gates down to find a Southwest agent who was able to sell us the seats for the flights through San Jose to Burbank. That’s actually the second time I’ve bought a ticket at the gate with Southwest to deal with a flight delay on amnother carrier. As the Southwest agent joked with me, that should be telling me something. Being in Boise also made it relatively easy to get our bags pulled off the Delta flight and re-checked on Southwest with time ticking. And I agree that our experience with the Delta agents in Boise was fantastic. But I also agree that their corporate customer service is a complete zero. Definitely time to take to Twitter, lol. The worst part of that whole delay with Delta is that it happened on my daughter’s 16th birthday, Instead of spending the day in Southern California at the beach with a nice celebratory dinner at Nobu on the beach in Malibu, she got a day of sitting in airports with dinner at Univeresal City Walk. But at least we made it in time for a Plan B birthday celebration, and the critical thing is that we made it in time for our VIP Experience tour at Universal the following morning, which was a nice “day after” birthday celebration for her. We joked that the next day was her “observed” birthday since her actual birthday was such a bust.

I agree, its important to know when to punt and change plans. That was a learning for me, always have a back-up plan in your pocket...just in case. Glad it didn't ruin your daughters birthday but it is hard when you think your doing XX today and then your just sitting at the airport instead. I think the hardest part of this trip for me was while my daughter was panicking, quit changes aren't her strength combined with the possible thought of missing the first day of school, I kept telling her "it will be fine, we'll get home in plenty of time" all the while I had NO idea how this adventure would turn out!

 

[chattadisser]

How don't you have Precheck? Don't you have some card out there that offered it for free?? What kinda churner are you

LOL! A procrastinating one!!!! Yes, I need to be slapped with a wet noodle for all the years that I have had a card with free pre-check and hadn't gotten it.